Very good and true post. The Benz and BMW reliability/quality went down steeply after 2000's.

 

I agree with one thing. The suspension on the GS is brutal. $3k spent with every imaginable part replaced and I still have steering wheel shimmy. Mechanically mine has been perfect so no complaints there.

 

front crossmember? Wow, i've read so many possible solutions to the alignment issue that could be narrowed down to 1 specific thing or a culmination of different things. I don't have the money to keep throwing parts at the car.

 

Sad thing is, nothing is fixed
I've thrown all of that money into parts and i still have the check engine light and the car still doesn't track straight and goes all over the road.

 

Sorry you're having all that problems by the way..... I've driven and owned from mitsubishi, honda, nissan, toyota, bmw, mercedes. Now when I bought my lexus 5 years ago with 100k mi on it, I never looked at any other cars (not being a fanboy but just being honest). I normally switch cars every 3 yrs but I kept my GS for more than 5 now. My car is at 190k mi right now and "few" of the problems you have just started coming up recently like sunroof, actuator and ball joint which were easy fix. Most of the maintenance I've done myself and always on time. I never had steering and alignment issues like you did but i think my struts are starting to go bad since its still original. Probably my next car would be an LS. Just my preference since I know alot about these cars already. OP Good luck on your next car purchase. Hope you don't have the same issues as your Lexus.

 

Yeah, but it was an old S class, one that could be picked up for about $4,000 today. The GS430 fully loaded was close to 60K brand new. Not exactly cheap. I just don't see the quality in there to justify the price. My buddy has a 2000 BMW 3 series with over 200,000 miles that is quiet and drives dead straight.

 

I did not drive my car into the ground. I took care of this car, changed all fluids,filters etc. How was i supposed to "prevent" things like door lock actuators and door ecus and Mark Levinson amps randomly going out?

 

The saying is "Never own an Audi without a warranty?"

Well, the same goes for Lexus as well in my case.

 

It's not the window motors. I know so because i replaced the window switch "told to so by dealer", didn't fix the problem, then mechanic said it was most likely window regulator with motor, replaced that, didn't fix the problem, bought the ecu and that fixed it. Again, waste of money on parts.


Yes, many guys here on Clublexus have given me advice. Many of the advice has come from long time skilled guys so its not from some noob. Only thing is, i may have an issue, and theres like 10 different possible solutions to the issue. Who has the money to replace everything to fix 1 problem?

I think the majority of buyers who buy a $60,000 Lexus (not me tho, i bought used) wants the "car to just be a car" and not tune. Who buys a Lexus to tune? They didn't even design the GS to be that type of car. Yeah, they called it a "sport sedan" but they put in a big heavy motor with weak suspension parts and basic brakes?

I have not only just driven my "uncles" car before, i have driven many other automobiles as well. It's just sad that I could get in a car thats worth probably $4K now, almost 12 years old, close to 200,000 miles on it and take it for a 5 minute trip to a supermarket and feel like it's so much more car and quality than my GS.

Alignment shop? you mean "shops"? About 3 different ones. Last one being Lexus dealership. If they can't get it right then who can? lol

 

straight to the transmission shop...

 

Out of curiosity did you ever take it to a frame shop to see if the frame is true and square? This is not specific to any one type of car but typically when a car has an issue that goes unresolved it tends to exasperate other problems that seem "unrelated". On the GS with the cross member issue, what happened was that the car would not track straight, had odd tire wear issues, mileage was a bit lower than it should be, there would be a vibration in the car that was cyclical (was not constant), along with other "annoyances". He took the car to an alignment shop and found that the castor was off (notorious problem on the earlier cars due to wear of the castor arm (LCA #2) bushing) but that would not explain the tracking problem. The alignment guy (independent shop, not a "franchise") noticed that the passenger front tire did not look centered in the wheel well. Turns out that the wheel was sitting back about 3 degrees in comparison with the driver's side wheel. After fixing the cross member and then a correct alignment (now that the frame was square) the problems went away. This may or not be your problem but it is a relatively inexpensive check to do.

I feel that the Lexus family is a well engineered platform with great build quality. I have owned several different brands and models (and still do), they all have their attributes and downsides.

 

once again stop blaming the car and blame yourself for going all over the place and throwing parts at the car. This isnt the way things are soposed to be fixed...figure out why its doing it and fix it.
I'll Say this again
YOU NEED A NEW MECHANIC!
When you do find out stick with him...the window problem could of been fixed right the first time if it was diagnosed correctly...thats why you have to pay check out time to take off door panel, test switch,test motor,test ecu.

 

Sorry to hear about your issue with your GS. GL with the new german car of your choice, hope you don't run into issues.

 

Wow thats some bad luck I have 2 GS's a 98 GS400 & an 04 Gs430 both have been great cars except for the Sub in the 04 and the 6 disc changer on the 98. Besides regular maintenance I have not had a problem.

 

Didn't you already made this thread prior?